Page:By the gaily circling glass.pdf/4

4 ‘I was once the last coin of the law, a sad limb

Who in cheating was ne’er known to faulter;

Till at length brought to justice, the law cheated him,

And he paid me to buy him a halter:

A Jack tar, all his rhino but me at an end,

a pleasure so hearty and willing,

Tho’ hungry himself, to a poor distress’d friend,

Wish’d it hundreds, and gave his fast shilling.

’Twas the wife of his messmate, whose glistening eye

With pleasure ran o’er, as she view’d me;

She ’chang’d me for bread, as her child she heard cry.

And, at parting, with tears she bedew’d me:

But I’ve other scenes known, riot leading the way

Pale want their poor families chilling;

Where rakes in their revels, the piper to pay,

Have spurn’d me, their best friend and last shilling.

’Thou thyself hast been thoughtless for profligates bail,

But to-morrow all care shalt thou bury;

When my little history thou offerest for sale:

In the interim, spend me and be merry.’

‘Never, never,’ cried I; thou’rt my mentor, my muse

And grateful, thy dictates fulfilling,

I’ll hoard thee in my heart.’ Thus men counsel refuse,

illTill [sic] the lecture comes from the last shilling.